Sir Freddie Laker, 83, Pioneer in Low-Fare Airline Travel, Is Dead

Freddie Laker, who introduced low-cost trans-Atlantic flights with Laker Airways in the late-1970's and helped usher in an era of more affordable travel, died Thursday in Hollywood, Fla.

Sir Freddie, 83, died after suffering from heart problems, his son, also named Freddie, said.

Though Laker Airways shut in 1982, Sir Freddie -- he was knighted in 1978 -- stands alongside Herbert D. Kelleher, founder of Southwest Airlines, and Sir Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Atlantic, as a pioneer in the global airline business, an industry once known for uniformly high prices.

Sir Freddie was in robust health until very recently, living in the Bahamas and piloting a yacht, his son said.

"He often said the only reason he was in aviation was so he could afford boats," the younger Mr. Laker said. "On his 80th birthday we were out drinking until 3 in the morning."

Laker Airways began service in 1977 and upset the staid world of trans-Atlantic travel then dominated by British Airways, Pan American World Airways and Trans World Airlines, sharply cutting fares and greatly expanding the number of people flying across the ocean.

"Traditional airlines were flying half-empty 747's between Europe and the U.S.," said Robert L. Crandall, former chief executive of American Airlines. Then along came Sir Freddie, charging about $240 for a round trip, and his planes were full.

Mr. Crandall recalled going to London in the early 1980's to meet with him, and being picked up at the airport by Sir Freddie in a Jaguar convertible and driven along country lanes at "70 to 80 miles an hour." Sir Freddie then took Mr. Crandall and his wife to a country pub for lunch.

The established carriers eventually matched Laker's low fares. Passengers drifted away from Laker, and the company, having grown too quickly by most accounts, could not meet its debt obligations.

Laker's liquidators later sued competing airlines, claiming a conspiracy to drive the upstart out of business. The litigation was settled, and Sir Freddie received $8 million for his Laker stock, though he lost many of his personal assets.

While it lasted, with Sir Freddie appearing in cheeky advertisements ("Fly me," he said), Laker Airways was the talk of the aviation industry.

"I took a chance," said Peter Whittle, at the time a first officer at British Airways who was bored with flying between Glasgow and London, and expecting a 20-year wait to advance to captain of a larger airplane.

Mr. Whittle, now 59 and retired in Telford, England, took a job as a first officer with Laker and was soon flying its DC-10's across the ocean.

"The planes were packed because it was a really good deal," he said. "Everybody felt part of the team."

When Laker Airways collapsed, many of Mr. Whittle's colleagues took aviation jobs in Asia or the Middle East. He stayed in England and, he said, "I never actually got another flying job." He worked as an engineer.

Though low-fare airlines remain a relatively small part of the industry -- with less than 30 percent market share in the United States, for instance -- they increasingly dictate prices and labor practices.

Sir Freddie got his first job in aviation manufacturing at 16, sweeping floors and making tea before becoming an aircraft designer. He flew cargo planes for the Air Transport Auxiliary during World War II. Afterward, he bought some old bombers and used them during the Berlin Airlift to fly cargo and people in and out, making his first fortune.

Sir Freddie later entered the charter airline business, assembling a large fleet. While waiting for government clearance to start Laker Airways as a scheduled airline, "Freddie often flouted the law," Mr. Crandall said admiringly in introducing him for an aviation award in Tampa four years ago.

Charter passengers were supposed to be signed up six months in advance, to avoid competition with scheduled airlines. But Sir Freddie, with word out among some shrewd travelers, was "creating groups from people who had come to the airport hoping to find a cheap flight to the States."

After Laker Airways, Sir Freddie moved to the United States and then the Bahamas. He started another short-lived trans-Atlantic airline flying from Florida, and then operated a smaller airline flying between the Bahamas and the mainland.

His son said Sir Freddie was not bitter during those years, even as Mr. Kelleher at Southwest and Sir Richard at Virgin amassed great personal fortunes. "He was extremely proud of what he did," Mr. Laker said of his father. "Dad will be remembered for changing aviation."

In addition to his son, Sir Freddie is survived by his fourth wife, Jacqueline, and a daughter, Elaine.

Correction: March 20, 2006, Monday An obituary on Feb. 11 about Freddie Laker, who introduced low-cost trans-Atlantic air travel, misstated the year that Laker Airways started service. It was 1966, not 1977. A reader's e-mail message about the error was initially misdirected at The Times.

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A version of this obituary; biography appears in print on February 11, 2006, on Page C00014 of the National edition with the headline: Sir Freddie Laker, 83, Pioneer In Low-Fare Airline Travel. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe